By Michael Vlismas.
Caption: Celina Sattelkau Photo Credit: Sunshine Ladies Tour.
GEORGE, Western Cape – Germany’s Celina Sattelkau is hunting back-to-back victories on the Sunshine Ladies Tour as she takes a three-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round of the NTT DATA Ladies’ Pro-Am brought to you by Standard Bank.
Playing The Links at Fancourt on Saturday in the first round of a tournament shorted to 36 holes because of the weather, Sattelkau opened with a bogey-free six-under-par 67.
Her nearest challenger is Scotland’s Laura Beveridge who opened with a 70.
Sattelkau, the winner of last week’s SuperSport Ladies Challenge, said she was pleased with the way she managed her game on a challenging day of weather.
“The conditions today were pretty wet so it was pretty much target golf. It’s very different from last week. There were a lot of opportunities to make birdies, but it is a difficult course. You can make bogey pretty easy as well,” she said.
The Links is a stern test at the best of times, and the German said she was pleased not to have dropped a single shot.
“I’m just really happy that I was able to get a lot of birdies and make no bogeys today. I only missed two greens and made two up-and-downs on those greens. I’m happy with how I handled this golf course mentally, especially with it being windy and wet, and with lots of blind shots.”
Sattelkau has been in terrific form on the Sunshine Ladies Tour this season, winning last week’s SuperSport Ladies Challenge in a playoff with Casandra Alexander.
But she’s determined not to get ahead of herself.
“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I just want to stay patient, stay in the moment and have fun. I will focus on what I can control. I am trusting in my game and my abilities,” Sattekau said.
There is a five-way tie for third place on two under par including three South Africans in Caitlyn Macnab, Kaiyuree Moodley and Gabrielle Venter.